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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>57536</law_id><section_number>8.01-241</section_number><catch_line>Limitation of enforcement of deeds of trust, mortgages and liens for unpaid purchase money</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><referred_to_by><reference>8.01-229</reference><reference>8.01-242</reference></referred_to_by><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="8.01">Civil Remedies and Procedure</unit><unit label="chapter" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="4">Limitations of Actions</unit><unit label="article" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="2">Limitations on Recovery of Realty and Enforcement of Certain Liens Relating to Realty</unit></structure><text>
						<section id="A"><p><span class="prefix-number">A.</span> No deed of trust or mortgage heretofore or hereafter given to secure the payment of money, and no <span class="dictionary">lien</span> heretofore or hereafter reserved to secure the payment of unpaid purchase money, shall be enforced after 10 years from the time when the original obligation last maturing thereby secured shall have become due and payable according to its terms and without regard to any provision for the acceleration of such date; provided that the period of one year from the death of any <span class="dictionary">party in interest</span> shall be excluded from the computation of time. <a id="paragraph-210797" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/8.01-241/#A"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B"><p><span class="prefix-number">B.</span> Notwithstanding the limitations prescribed by subsection A, a deed of trust or mortgage given, and a <span class="dictionary">lien</span> reserved to secure the payment of money, for which the original obligation last maturing thereby secured became due and payable according to its terms between July 1, 1988, and July 1, 2000, without regard to any provision for the acceleration of the date such obligation became due and payable, shall not be enforced after July 1, 2010. However, the provisions of this subsection shall have no effect on the rights of a <span class="dictionary">person</span> who (i) acquired an interest in the real property securing such deed of trust or mortgage between July 1, 2008, and the date of enactment of this subsection and (ii) would otherwise have priority over or take free of such deed of trust or mortgage under the <span class="dictionary">laws</span> of the Commonwealth at that time. <a id="paragraph-210798" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/8.01-241/#B"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="C"><p><span class="prefix-number">C.</span> The limitations prescribed by this section may be extended by the recordation of a certificate in the form provided in &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Permissible form for certificate" href="/8.01-241.1/">8.01-241.1</a> prior to the expiration of the limitation period prescribed herein in the clerk&#x2019;s office in which such <span class="dictionary">lien</span> is recorded and executed either by the party in whom the beneficial title to the property so encumbered is vested at the time of such recordation or by his duly authorized <span class="dictionary">attorney-in-<span class="dictionary">fact</span></span>, or agent. Recordation of the certificate shall extend the limitations of the right to enforce the <span class="dictionary">lien</span> for 10 years from the date of the recordation of the certificate. The clerk of the <span class="dictionary">court</span> shall index the certificate in both names in the index of the deed book and give reference to the book and page in which the original writing is recorded. Unless the deed or deeds executed pursuant to the foreclosure of any mortgage or to the execution of or sale under any deed of trust is recorded in the county or city where the land is situated within one year after the time the right to enforce the mortgage or deed of trust shall have expired as hereinabove provided, such deed or deeds shall be void as to all purchasers for valuable consideration without notice and <span class="dictionary">lien</span> <span class="dictionary">creditors</span> who make any purchase of or acquire any <span class="dictionary">lien</span> on the land conveyed by any such deed prior to the time such deed is so recorded. <a id="paragraph-210799" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/8.01-241/#C"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section></text><history>Code 1950, &#xA7; 8-11; 1950, p. 19; 1977, c. 617; 1980, c. 499; 1994, c. 547; 1999, c. 788; 2008, c. 226; 2009, c. 163.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
